Sexual Life in Ancient India: A Study in the Comparative History of Indian Culture v1.c5.90

v1.c5.90

whim. Thy intention is, O lovely one : May I get a son from the sun god, one peerless in heroic strength, clad in armour, decked with ear-rings. Give thyself, then, to me, thou with the elephant’s gait ; for a son shall be born thee, such as thou yearnest after, O woman. I will go then, when I have been joined with thee, O thou with the lovely smile. If thou wilt not do as I say, do what is dear to me,¹ then in my anger I shall curse thee, and the Brahman, and thy father. Because of thee I shall beyond a doubt engulf them all with fire, and thy father, moreover, because he gave no heed to thy wrong behaviour. And on that Brahman I shall deal out a hard chastisement for giving thee the magic spell without knowing thy character and ways. For all the gods in heaven there with Indra at their head are witnesses to my having been tricked by thee, and are smiling as it were, O lovely one. Look but at those bands of the gods, for thou hast that divine sight which I first granted thee and whereby thou hast seen me.” Then the king’s daughter saw all the thirty-three (gods) at their stations in the air, bright as the dazzling, shining, great sun god. When the young maiden, the queen, saw them, she spoke these words, abashed and fearful, to the sun god : “ Go, pray, lord of the beams, unto thy heavenly chariot. It was from my maidenly nature that the disastrous mistake arose.² Father and mother and any other dignitaries there may be have the power to bestow this body. I will not do hurt to law and virtue ; in the world the safe keeping of the body is held in honour as the virtuous way of woman’s life. It was to try the might of the magic spell that I called thee, O shining one. ‘From childish want of understanding the child did it,’ is what thou mayest think,³ and forgive me for this, O my lord.” The sun god spoke : “ Since I think that it is a child, I will utter unto thee friendly words ; no other would get such mild words.